Stapeliad Blooms are the Craziest in the Plant Kingdom

Here we have a lovely spotted flower coming out of some standard-issue green stems with little spiny pointy things.

Huernia guttata reticulata

Shall we look closer?

Click the closeup for a bigger closeup.

Now this little gem is an easy to grow, easy to bloom plant from South Africa, Western Cape, that rewards with many thick green 3″ stems. They form a dense mat that can produce many of these flowers with variable sized spottings. Some have big red spoltchy spots, while others have tiny little fine spots. All have that very interesting structure inside, protected by some little bloom spines! They are a carrion flower, and so attract beetles and such. It’s a ground hugging bloom which is how I know it’s for beetles and not flies.

We keep them indoors where the beetles don’t find them, because that’s just the way we are.